Strangely Wonderful
by Miss.Cookie.Crumble
Summary: If you asked the staff at Wayne Tower to describe Imogen Hartley, they would roll their eyes and rant of her incompetence and ditzy persona, along with her speaking babbling nonsense, but it didn't seem to phase one man in the slightest. Bruce/OC Post-TDK
1. Unwritten

**Chapter 1: Unwritten**

_I Am Unwritten Can't Read My Mind,_

_I'm Undefined I'm Just Beginning,_

_The Pen's In My Hand Ending Unplanned,_

_Staring At The Blank Page Before You,_

_Open Up The Dirty Window_

_Let The Sun Illuminate The Words That_

_You Could Not Find,_

_Reaching For Something In The Distance,_

_So Close You Can Almost Taste It,_

_Release Your Inhibitions._

_(Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten)_

* * *

><p>It was a particular sunny day in Gotham city; rays of sunlight filled the Wayne Tower offices, instantly brightening the mood of every dreary person in the building. Imogen liked to imagine that outside the birds were chirping happily to match the clichéd image in her head. She did that often, space out and let her mind wonder into child like day dreams, leaving her in a fiddle when she'd realise that she hadn't been listening to a single word somebody had said and today was no exception.<p>

If you asked many of the staff at Wayne Tower to describe Imogen Hartley, they would roll their eyes and go into a rant of her incompetence and ditzy persona, not to mention half the things she would come out with would sound like complete nonsense. It wasn't that she was stupid per say, but slightly strange, not that she seemed to notice, and if she did she showed no sign of ever changing her ways.

Now ask a close friend to describe Imogen Hartley, which was close to zero, they would smile fondly at the thought of her, and begin to explain her caring nature, smilingly knowingly at a recent memory, describing her adorable babbling nonsense a nervous habit and perfectly content with it being apart of her. Just because Imogen had hardly any friends, didn't necessarily mean that she wasn't happy about it, in fact you could say she couldn't be any happier about having only three friends, as she didn't do well with large crowds as it is.

She sat at her small desk, which was situated outside of Lucius Fox's office, her chin in her hand with her elbow propped up on the desk, her bright blue orbs staring into a blank space, a dazed expression on her porcelain skinned face while she waited boredly for something to happen. Anything.

Her chocolate brown hair cascaded around her, with her bangs covering her forehead, stopping just above her eyes, making the colour in them seem even brighter as it contrasted against her hair. If it wasn't for her strange behaviour and awkward conversations, many would deem her attractive, and given enough alcohol many of the male colleagues in the building would enforce that statement.

"Day dreaming again Miss Hartley?" A soft, yet deep voice snapped her mind back to attention, and she whipped her head around to see Lucius Fox standing by his door, an amused expression on his face.

Imogen let out a nervous laugh, her cheeks turning into a rosy pink shade, nodding slightly.

"Just of places other than here, like the beach .. and Disney Land, shaking hands with Mickey Mouse while I get a picture with him …"

She drifted off, afraid to say anymore and embarrass herself more than she already had, biting her bottom lip for good measure, Lucius shook his head at her with a knowing smile on his face, tucking his hands into his suit pocket he looked back up at her.

"I just need the documents on the Stavalos deal on my desk soon."

"Already done." She lifted up a large yellow file, filled with signed papers and information, Lucius nodded and walked briskly to take it out of her hands with a small thank you.

"With that day dreaming you do I don't understand how you get all your work done and more …"

Imogen shrugged her shoulders, smiling brightly at him; Lucius Fox was most likely the only person in the building who truly knew just how smart she really was. Her degree in marketing and accounting was one of the reason he hired her as his assistant in the first place, but every applicant had similar qualifications, what really made Lucius so adamant in choosing her was her persona, how she came across, it was strangely refreshing to see someone so childlike and blindly optimistic, and he would openly admit to never coming across another person like her again.

"Well if you're done with that, then you're free for your lunch break now."

She nodded, sitting up from her chair and grabbing her black elbow length blazer, throwing her hand bag over her shoulder she smiled at Lucius and softly waved at him, walking in the opposite direction.

"Miss Hartley!" Imogen stopped briefly, turning around to look at Lucius, "Wayne Tower has forty stories and you're at the top, why do you insist on taking the stairs?"

She shrugged nonchalantly, her soft smile never leaving her pink lips, "Elevators are weird."

She turned back abruptly and continued her walk to the stairwell, leaving Lucius chuckling to himself at her ironic statement, she was very peculiar indeed.

* * *

><p>"How is the new suit coming along?"<p>

"Great, feels a lot lighter actually, easier to move around in when I'm taking on more than one thug."

Bruce Wayne sat in the chair across from Lucius, his dark brown hair combed back neatly, his hands buried deep in his dark blue suit pockets, a habit that had slowly occurred over his years of returning to Wayne Enterprise.

Lucius let out a low chuckle, occasionally looking up from the documents on his desk to make eye contact with Bruce, doing a last look over a deal they had just confirmed and finished in a meeting merely minutes ago. Closing the file, and putting it into a stack of others for Imogen to place in the department of archives later, he leaned back in his chair, stretching slightly.

"Well I have a couple of new devices downstairs, if you have the time to take a look later on."

Bruce nodded, "Of course, I'm free for the rest of the afternoon ..." he paused, his brow creasing slightly, "There's rumours of a new guy taking up the mantle for the Falcony crime family, only I'm not sure who."

"After Maroni's death I didn't think there was anyone else who _could _take up the name."

"Neither was I, but apparently a meetings being held in the Narrow's tonight, maybe then I'll get to se-"

An abrupt knock on the door cut Bruce from finishing his sentence, and before Lucius could even open his mouth to tell whoever was on the other side to come in the door had already been opened, the eccentric blue eyed girl walking in with an arm stacked with files.

"Mr. Fox you just got a message from Mr. Paxton explaining how he had to- Oh no, sorry I forgot to wait for you to say 'come in'."

Lucius nodded his head in understanding, "That's perfectly fine Miss Hartley." His words seemed to have gone one ear and out the other, as Imogen casted him a worried glance.

"I'll go back outside and knock again." Doing just that she shut the door behind her, softly knocking on the door once more and waiting patiently, letting out a sigh at the situation Lucius looked to Bruce, who had an amused expression on his face.

"Come in."

She walked into the office once more, shutting the door behind her and her professional manor in place, placing the three files on Lucuis's desk she smiled brightly at both men.

"Mr. Paxton called to explain that he must cancel tomorrow mornings meeting due to a family crisis, and I rescheduled the meeting to Thursday afternoon at two thirty."

She motioned to the files, "I went down to Applied Sciences to retrieve that file you wanted on the military cell phones, I found three and I didn't know which one it was so I brought them all up here."

Looking through the title names of the three files he separated the correct one from the others, "Why didn't you just look inside one of them to make sure?"

Imogen's face blanked slightly, as if she were taken back by his statement, she then spoke softly, as if it were an obvious question, "Because it wasn't mine to look at, I'm not a staff member permitted to actually look into the Applied Science files."

Bruce let out a small chuckle, staring at Imogen in curiosity, "At least she listens to instructions properly, unlike Coleman."

"Imogen I'm sure you know this is Bruce Wayne, and Bruce this is my assistant Imogen Hartley."

Bruce stood, a playful smirk on his face as he extended his hand to her, she smiled brightly at Bruce and swept her bangs away with one hand, while politely shaking his hand with the other.

"It's really nice to meet you Mr. Wayne, I see you everywhere! Well not everywhere everywhere but on the TV and in the paper and everyone talks about you like you're Superman … so to finally meet the boss of everything is wonderful!"

Bruce nodded, opening his mouth to return the compliment until she interrupted him again.

"I don't know why I compared you to Superman, I'm sorry about that it's probably because of all the charity events and generous donations you do for the city, helping it become better in your own way."

"It's perfectly fine-"

"Of course if I was going to compare you to a super hero I should have compared you to Batman because he actually lives in this city and helps Gotham too."

She was no longer looking at him, but at the wall behind him, her arms were folded with one hand on her cheek, her usual dazed expression adorned her face.

"You think Batman's a super hero?"

Her eyes snapped back to Bruce, her child like smile returning to her face and nodded enthusiastically, "I don't like what everyone else calls him, vigilante. It doesn't sound appreciative of what he's doing; especially after all he's done for the city."

Bruce nodded, his expression slightly bewildered yet intrigued, she turned around to Lucius who had interrupted her babbling, holding back the urge to chuckle, not wanting to offend the young girl.

"Miss Hartley we're done for the day, so you're free to go home today."

"Okay, thank you Mr. Fox and hope you have a wonderful afternoon!" she turned to Bruce, giving him another friendly smile before leaving, "It was nice to meet you Mr. Wayne."

"Like wise."

She sort walked out of the office, her black heels clicking behind her as she went, as soon as the door shut Bruce looked to Lucius with an inquisitive look, his thumb pointing towards the now closed door.

"Where, may I ask, did you find her?"

"Believe it or not she found me, shockingly strange isn't she?"

"I believe so, just how old is she?"

"I think along the lines of twenty six or seven."

"Yet she has the personality of a child, interesting."

A moment of silence passed over the two men, until Lucius suggested heading down to show Bruce some of his new devices to add onto the suit.

* * *

><p>Lounging on her couch that evening Imogen intently watched the film on her television screen, while managing to converse with her best friend over the phone.<p>

"How is it living with Doug now?"

She heard her best friend sigh happily, and for a split second Imogen pictured her friend whipping her vibrant red hair over her shoulder, while pressing a hand to her forehead dramatically in a Shakespearean way, sometimes she wasn't surprised why people worried about her train of thought.

"It feels great, a little weird actually living with a guy, but still great … I miss living with you if that's what you're asking."

"Believe it or not I actually wasn't, but on that note I would like to admit I'm feeling terribly lonely here without you."

Imogen and her best friend Carla had known each other since their first year of college, at Gotham University where they shared a dorm room with one another, upon first meeting Imogen Carla hadn't been particularly pleased with being forced to live with a strange girl who often went off subjects on conversations with herself, yet somehow as the years passed by they grew on each other.

After graduating they had easily found an apartment to share in the Gotham for the another five years, until Carla moved out to live with her long term boyfriend Doug a couple of blocks down.

The apartment wasn't anything special, consisting of two medium sized bedrooms – one being empty due to Carla moving out – with a relatively small living room that had a fire escape window to it's right, and the front door on the left, and a small kitchen just behind. It wasn't the most luxurious home, but it was home none the less to Imogen.

"Seriously Imogen, you need to go on a date … I don't even want to mention how long you haven't been on one because I cringe in embarrassment for you."

Imogen absentmindedly quoted a line from the film in front of her, before thinking up a reply to her red headed friend they had had this conversation so many times that now it felt like a routine, "What's the point? I'm not good with people, and certainly not any better at making friends. All guys think I'm weird."

She heard her friend snort on the other side of line, "Darling, I can't even recall how many times you've picked me up at four AM drunk out of my brains and put me to bed, if that isn't a good friend then you need a reality check. As for guys, you just need to find one that finds you're .."

She waited patiently as Carla attempted to find a word that wouldn't insult Imogen to describe her, not that she would even mind, she probably wouldn't even realise it was an insult anyway, but because they were best friends she would make an effort.

" … peculiar yet endearing qualities interesting."

Imogen hummed in agreement, not entirely listening anymore as she became more engrossed into the film she was watching, her friend sighed in defeat, realising that she had lost her to the dream world.

"What're you watching?"

"Inception, it's so interesting Carla … imagine if people could access you're mind through your dreams and manipulate your decisions? The mind is such a complicated yet interesting thing, I would love to see inside another persons head and see how it works … like one person could constantly dream of things like ponies and unicorns, then you could see the complete opposite of a really complex person who would have really lucid dreams. That would be amazing."

Carla laughed softly, smiling to herself fondly as she thought of her best friend, "You really are special Imogen."

"You're really special too Carla, the bestest friend ever."

"Don't get soppy on me now, anyway I've gotta go … I'm cooking a meal for me and Doug tonight so I'll see you for lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure, same place as always?"

"Yup, good night sweet heart."

"Night."

On hearing the other line click, she softly let the phone fall onto the couch beside her, wrapping her blanket tighter around herself, snuggling into the cough to enjoy the rest of her film.

* * *

><p><strong>So I started a new story ... yeah. Lol to be quite frank I actually have no idea where I'm going with this, I sort of wrote it just now on a whim, because it was itching in the back of my head all afternoon, I might decide I don't even like it and take it down in a couple of days. Kinda depends on what kind of feedback I get from this, although I did enjoy writing this type of character. This isn't really going to be a priority anyway, seeing as I'm so close to finishing my other fic, which a new update will be available to TOMORROW NIGHT. Yes, anyway ... REVIEW!<strong>


	2. Silver Pool Of Light

**Chapter 2: Silver Pool Of Light**

_Her Face Is A Map Of The World,_

_You Can See She's A Beautiful Girl,_

_And Everything Around Her Is A_

_Silver Pool Of Light,_

_The People Who Surround Her_

_Feel The Benefit Of It,_

_It Makes You Calm,_

_She Holds You Captivated In Her Palm._

_(KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See)_

* * *

><p>Imogen wouldn't exactly say that she lived far from Wayne Tower, nor would she say she lived close, but she never felt the need for catching a Taxi to work. Instead she found that she greatly enjoyed walking to work, especially in weather as nice as this, summer setting in with the heat just the right temperature, feeling a soft warm breeze touch her skin soothingly as she walked.<p>

She would often give a friendly smile to those who passed her on their way, some would smile politely back while others would completely ignore her, set on getting to work as quick as possible. She never felt insulted by it though, she understood that some people didn't adjust to early mornings well and never would, thus starting of their day grumpily and cheerless.

She had spontaneously decided to go with the geek sheek look today, tucking in a white button up shirt into a black skirt that stopped just above her knee's and flowed out, and she matched with it a slim black tie and tights, finishing her look with plain black flats. She never would dress the same, often picking out things on a whim, and for work she would often pick things that didn't necessarily look correct together, yet managed to keep up the formal appearance.

Her long brown curls was tied up in a pony tail to prevent her from getting too hot, her bangs constantly present, her blue eyes held a constant glow to them, which never seemed to fade no matter the mood she was in. She walked along the street happily, with a Starbucks Coffee and Hot Chocolate in her hands that she collected every morning for herself and Mr. Fox.

Passing a homeless man on the street, she faltered in her steps to look sadly at his hunched over form, a hat perched in front of him with a few coins and dollar notes, walking over the old man she put her arm out to him, motioning for him to take her hot chocolate. The messy old man looked her briefly, with a slightly bewildered expression he took the cup from her, a smile forming on his wrinkled dirty face, it was whipped off quickly when he noticed her shoving her hand into her cardigan pocket, pulling out a crispy ten dollar note, throwing it into his hat.

"Thank you! You don't get people like you anymore miss," he smiled gratefully at her, scratching the skin beneath his beard, and took her hand she shake it when she extended it to him.

"I'm just doing my bit to help! See you around sir," She trotted off, waving to him as she went her even present smile on her face.

She reached Wayne Tower in no time, skipping up to the steps of the large glass door entrance, wrapped up in her own day dream and softly singing to herself, she failed to notice the smartly dressed shareholder of the company that stepped in to walk beside her.

"We're in a rather good mood this morning." Her head slowly turned to look beside her, Bruce holding one of the doors open to allow her in, smiling gratefully at him she continued on, walking beside him as she shrugged.

"If you start of the day positive then it's always a good day."

"Say that to people like me who aren't early birds." She giggled at his statement, giving him an accusatory look.

"Well not all of us go to big parties with beautiful models until the early hours of the morning Mr. Wayne, dancing until the cows come home and till ya feet hurt."

He hummed in agreement, before Imogen parted ways with him to head to the stairwell doors, Bruce stared at her back for a brief moment, the same look of amused bewilderment on his face from when he met her in the previous week.

"She's walking up forty flights of stairs, instead of taking an elevator."

The sound of a ping signalled that the elevator had arrived to the ground floor, Bruce shrugged his shoulders to his previous statement as he stepped into it, smirking at a very attractive blonde who had just exited the elevator, already making a note of asking her to dinner when he next saw her.

* * *

><p>Imogen reached the top floor long after Bruce Wayne, but managed to reach the office just as Lucius came in, she waved at him from her desk, handing him his coffee as he walked past her and into his office with a small thank you.<p>

Looking a his schedule for the day, and making notes of the e-mails for cancelled or moved forward meetings, sending a few e-mails herself to members of staff for deadline reminders, she playfully ignored the bald man who had walked into the office and perched himself on the end of her desk.

"You know, if we got you a few low cut tops to wear I'm sure we could bag you a guy!" Imogen laughed loudly, shaking her head at her friends comment.

Turning her chair slightly to face him she reached out and pulled his glasses off, putting them on herself to strike a few pout poses, he let out his own laugh at her.

"It's really sad to know that I would have to result to that just to get a guy, I'm not strange!"

"Well honey, if you continuously talk about Winnie The Poo and sunshine then you aren't exactly going to have men falling at your feet!" She gasped in mock horror at his statement, playfully pinching him in the arm for good measure.

"Stan that's a horrible thing to say! Winnie The Poo is full of years of magic and wonder, that was a big part of my childhood!"

"And apparently your adulthood too." She stuck out her tongue, earning the magic finger from him, which stunned her to silence. Imogen had never been one for any type of swearing, or vulgar words for that matter, she wasn't childish about it, but she just never could bring herself to come out with one.

"Leave Poo alone! But now that you mention it I do need to go shopping and buy some clothes, if you would like to join me after work?"

"Me? Miss out on an afternoon of shopping? Like that would happen sweetheart." he waved her away with his hand, before leaning forward to give her a kiss on her forehead.

"Yay! Then we can go get ice cream from that yummy store!" She clapped her hands together in excitement, while Stanley rolled his eyes at her.

"You really are such a child my dear, but I must dash back to advertising they can't last five minutes without me down there!"

She nodded, waving at him enthusiastically until he disappeared down the hall, releasing out a small sigh she got back to her work.

* * *

><p>"You are my sunshine my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey,"<p>

"_Miss Hartley?_"

"You'll never know dear how much I love you, so please don't take my sunshine away."

"_Miss Hartley?_" Imogen snapped out of her stupor, scrambling across her desk to press a button onto the receiver that connected her to Lucius Fox in the board meeting room.

"Sorry sir I was singing, how may I help?"

She heard a long sigh and sounds of laughter coming from the speaker, making her wonder what the other members of the boardroom could find so funny and waited patiently for Lucius's reply.

"_I would very much appreciate it if my guests and I could have some coffee brought to the board room._"

"Right away sir."

"_Thank you._"

She quickly stood, straightening out her shirt and walked around her desk to head to one of the staffs kitchen rooms, before abruptly turning around to head back to her desk, pressing her finger over the receiver once more.

"Sorry Mr. Fox but umm … how many coffees would that be?"

A moment of silence settled between then, and she guessed it was because Lucius was shaking his head in embarrassment at her, she reminded herself to apologize for her incompetence later.

"_You will find a large coffee flask that you can fill, along with that you will find seven tea cups that will suffice, also in my office I left a folder of information on the technology department that I need you to bring with you._"

"Yes sir." Nodding to no one in particular she practically ran down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Carrying a tray full of refreshments in one hand, while holding a folder in another, Imogen managed to look some what a state while pushing the glass door open when entering the board room. Smiling at no one in particular when she looked to the gentlemen sitting around the extremely long table, she walked towards Mr. Fox at the end, handing him his folder as he continued to listen to one of the men's speeches on why they should combine one of their products together.

He was a relatively tall looking man with a completely bald head and slightly chubby face, as he was sitting down while talking, with two men sitting on either side of him, both hanging on every word and ready to pass him a document if needed.

Imogen started from the bottom, placing a cup in front of each colleague, then continuing to pour coffee into each cup, she briefly looked at the group of men on the opposite side of the table to which Lucius sat, and had to back track a second when she noticed Bruce sitting to his right looking slightly bored. She wondered why he even took part in Wayne Enterprises deals if he didn't enjoy it; it wasn't as if Lucius couldn't handle this entire company on his own.

For a brief second he made eye contact with her, giving her a dazzling smile that would of made any woman in the building swoon, unfortunately for him Imogen was as oblivious as can be, and mouthed a small 'hello' to him before returning to her current task.

"I think if Wayne Enterprise and LexCorp combine both their findings on the technology on sonar phones that it would increase not only the quality onto a monumental level, but guarantee the increase of profit."

A small clap was heard as Lex Luthur finished his speech, Bruce giving one half heartedly while constantly looking at his watch in an exasperated manor. The whole room seemed to relax a little as Lucius, Lex and Bruce began to converse between them. Without trying to seem rude for interrupting, Imogen placed herself beside Lex as she held a plate of biscuits and cakes, he stopped mid sentence to look at her, before smirking and taking one with gratitude.

Lucius batted her hand away, muttering a no thank you as she went past him, moving forward she offered one to Bruce, who took the entire plate and set it in front of him, lifting his cup up to have some more coffee.

"Finished it already?" She had to whisper as she bent beside him, filling his cup up.

"Do you realise how insanely boring these meetings are, I've been fighting to stay awake for the past hour," He picked up a biscuit, examining it's décor as if it were a piece of art, before looking to Imogen and giving her a sceptical look, "Jammy Dodgers? Really?"

She shrugged, "Well I would have given cookies but the box for that was empty, it was either this or short bread biscuits, but those don't taste very nice because they're kind of bland, at least with Jammy Dodgers they're sweet and have jam in them, everyone enjoys eating those."

Bruce held a playful smirk on his face, again it barely passed through Imogen's mind on what it suggested, and snapped her head towards Lucius as he called out her name.

"I need you to fit Mr. Luther and his colleague's into the priority guest list to the Baker charity ball next week, also you must organise the times of their pick up from the hotel with Roy, and call Grenier to see if he is confirmed, if so I also need you to organise his pick up as well as his flight here. Speak to human resources and explain that we are in dire need of a new executive in Biotech by Monday as Mr. Streep was fired today."

Bruce watched as she expertly took notes of all that Mr. Fox was saying, with a small notepad and pen that she seemed to keep within one of her cardigan pockets, she nodded as she scribbled down notes, making sure to leave nothing out and keep up with what Lucius was saying. There was no doubt about the fact that Imogen was extremely good at her job, she seemed to be a fast learner and despite her first impressions on people she seemed to constantly surprise by exceeding expectations.

When working it was as if her entire demeanour changed, she would turn serious and make sure to stay on guard, clearly always prepared as she constantly took her notepad everywhere.

On finishing his list of necessities, Imogen looked up to smile brightly at Mr. Fox, her childlike stance returning, "anything else you need Mr. Fox?"

He shook his head, and she nodded in confirmation before pocketing her notepad and picking up the tray, leaving the flask of coffee on the table if any of them needed a refill. Smiling softly to Bruce as she walked past him, she left the board room humming her previous song to herself.

* * *

><p>Imogen walked beside her friend Stanley in a department store, the man was slightly older than her, and while she had just past mid twenties he was into his thirties. Being fairly tall he wore a plain black V-neck sweater above a white button up shirt, along with plain black skinny trousers and shoes, Imogen always though he dressed extremely well for a man, before she found out he was a gay of course, answering all her curious questions when he would pass her in the hallways complimenting her choice of clothing, even if it was slightly controversial.<p>

His head was bald, yet you could see hair beginning to grow back, insinuating that he chose to shave his head, unlike Lex Luther who didn't have a single strand of hair on his. Looping her arm through one of his, she listened intently as he complained about certain staff members and the highlights of his day, upon finishing his rant he turned to Imogen, asking her on what she needed his assistance for on shopping.

"That charity ball is next week and I knew you would be the person to come to on picking out a new dress, because I really don't know what to wear and I don't wanna turn up wearing something that everybody else hates and thinks is silly because this is really important to Mr. Fox and Wayne."

"A handsome Mr. Wayne is going to be there?" A suggestive look appeared on Stanley's face, and Imogen giggled at it before rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry, you're my plus one as always, and I'll make sure to introduce you … although I don't think he swings that way."

"What would make you think that my dear Imogen?" Stanley asked in sarcasm, though she didn't catch it, for someone who was smart she could be astoundingly oblivious to social etiquettes.

"Because he always has super models hanging off his arms?"

"Yes, well back to the reason of why we're here, I can see you wearing something … soft in colour … and I know just the place!"

Forcefully yanking on her arm, he pulled her in the direction of where he new a boutique sold wonderful dresses and gowns, already having a perfect image of what she could wear.

No more than half an hour later did he have her standing before him wearing a pale blue knee length dress, the texture was of silk and the facial expression that Imogen held was one of disgust. As soon as they had walked into the store Stanley had bombarded her with dresses that he would randomly pull of a rack, instructing her to try all of them on, none of them of course had been to her taste, and even Stanley had given a few disapproving looks to her attire at one point.

He would make off key comments on knowing just the right shoes to wear, or what type of jewellery would compliment her, proceeding with her trying to encourage him to work for a fashion magazine instead of being at Wayne Enterprise.

"There's only one left, and I hope it looks good because I'm getting tired."

"Stop being a whiney child and get back in there!"

He ushered her back into the small changing room, hearing her scuffle around and mutter a small 'ouch' as it sounded like she bumped her head, within a few minutes she remerged from the changing room, drawing the curtains back with a large smile on her face, walking out she done a little twirl for Stanley. The dress she wore was a faded coral color that was strapless, and the soft material gave a floral look to it, flowing out from her waist to stop a few inches above her knees. Stanley released a satisfied grin, walking towards her to feel the material himself, before ruffling her hair slightly.

"With the right hair style and shoes, you will make this work … it looks very pretty on you."

Imogen giggled in happiness, clasping her hands together as she twirled around it in once more, "It's so pretty! I feel like a fairy or something, I'm definitely wearing this!"

Stanley nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose and putting his hands on his hips, "now that you're dress is done, we need to find my outfit."

* * *

><p><strong>I didn't actually expect to be writing up another chapter ... but what do you know? I quite liked the feedback I got from the last chapter, Thank you to all four of you who did ^_^ it makes me very happy! And god I honestly don't know how I'll start a romance off, or action for that matter. .. it's really bad I'm writing this as I go along! But now that I've started it I'm inclined to finish it so don't worry I'll make sure its a damn good plot!<strong>


	3. Upside Down

**Chapter 3: Upside Down**

___Angels Watching Over Me_

_With Smiles Upon Their Face,_

_'Cause I Have Made It Through_

_This This Far In An Unforgiving Place._

_I'll Tell You What I Have Found,_

_That I'm No Fool I'm Just Upside Down._

_I Ain't Go No Cares, Ain't Got No Rules,_

_I Think I Like Living Upside Down._

_(Paloma Faith - Upside Down)_

* * *

><p>It seemed to be the only topic anyone and everyone could talk about, gossip travelled fast in Gotham, and the tabloids got hold of it just as faster, it even over shadowed the talk of the Baker Charity event and its dedication towards the memory of Harvey Dent. Imogen wondered how people could be so nosy, poking into other peoples businesses and making assumptions based on what they had heard, not taking into consideration the feelings that they may hurt.<p>

She never hated upper class people, but she did pity them, and felt sad for someone to be so wrapped up in the materialistic side of things, trampling over other people and enjoying it. She wondered what had happened to just enjoying life, with the people you enjoyed having around and loved, she lived by the saying of 'you only live once', questioning why people would focus on things as silly as money when it would mean absolutely nothing when you died, she would much rather die knowing she had people who loved her and enjoyed her life, than die in a large home with expensive ornaments and furniture.

Just last night a young woman was found in the narrows dead, and going on the rumours that had spread between the upper class people at this charity event, the woman had been strangled to death and brutally gutted, someone had even gone as far as to say that an organ from her abdomen had been missing.

It deeply scared Imogen, knowing that someone could have the heart to do something as despicable as that, and to stop herself from listening to any more of this gossip she would tune herself out. It wasn't as if she was at this event to have fun anyway, when she attended events such as these with Mr. Fox it was part of her job, Mr. Fox would spend his time meeting potential and previous clients, clients that Mr. Fox sometimes could not remember, and as part of her job Imogen would name each and every person at the event to Mr. Fox. This was one of many tasks that Imogen enjoyed in her work, and often made her feel like Anne Hathaway in 'The Devil Wears Prada', a film that she had seen one too many times.

She also kept her small notebook in a clutch purse, which always became handy at events such as these with Mr. Fox, she booked appointments with Mr. Fox's clients on the spot, or would make a note of something Mr. Fox would ask her to do in the office on Monday. Sometimes her job was as easy as fetching a drink for Mr. Fox, not needing her on anything else, allowing her to roam the place quietly. Mr. Fox never was one for socialising; he often kept to himself at events or spoke with very few people, people he knew well, only speaking to others out of politeness.

Today Imogen stood slightly beside Lucius Fox, being completely ignored by his current guests, while they idly chatted about the dead girl, one saying how she was apparently a daughter of one of the Falcone mob men, while another had said she was an illegal escort. To suppress memories she would rather not dwell on, Imogen tuned the voices out once again, fiddling with the hem of her coral dress, waiting patiently for Lucius to find some polite way of excusing himself from the conversation.

A smile crept up on Imogen's face as she took in her surroundings, the location of the Charity event was beautiful, it had taken place in the extremely large garden of the newly built Wayne Manor, who had so generously offered his newly furnished home as a venue. Luckily it was a sunny day, making the garden look much more beautiful, consisting of Greek statues, and a large fountain that resided in the middle of where the venue had been placed. If Imogen were any other person, she would have rolled her eyes at how clichéd the garden looked, belonging to a world wide known billionaire, there was no other way to decorate the garden other than with grand statues and cut out figures from bushes. Fortunately Imogen was one to thoroughly enjoy things as grand as this, finding it comical in a way, although she expected Mr. Wayne wasn't the one to decide on the decoration of his garden, or of his entire home for that fact. She was however praying to god that Lucius would allow her to roam later on, as she had over heard a few of the elderly guests explain that they had seen a large maze deeper into the garden, something that she had always wanted to try out.

A waiter smartly dress in a white shirt and bow, offered her a glass of champagne in the tray he balance on one hand, she shook her head at him and held up her other had that adorned a glass of red wine. She wasn't fond of drinking, but there had always been something about red wine that she liked the taste of, which is why it was the only form alcohol she stuck to at large events.

Letting her eyes roam around the vicinity, silently observing women in large hats and pastel coloured clothing, and the old men with large beer bellies and bowler hats chuckled loudly; she stopped to observe Bruce Wayne. To anyone lightly observing him, they would merely see a young rich man, with has arm around a beautiful model smirking cockily while indulging in a conversation about business. Imogen had always found something slightly off about Bruce Wayne, as if what he portrayed to the world was a façade, and when he supposedly laughed at a joke one of his friends had come out with the laugh almost seemed forced.

She didn't quite understand him, since he was perfectly polite and relaxed around her and Lucius, his demeanour changed around others, she supposed he was the type to keep walls up, which was understandable considering his life previous to joining Wayne Enterprises. Then again Imogen could argue that it was no way to live, walking around the world pretending to be interested in conversations with people you didn't really enjoy the company of, to keep at a distance on them knowing who you truly were, not allowing anyone in to stay alone.

Alone. The word itself made her want to shiver; she couldn't stand the thought of it. To her being alone was the worst form of living, no one to be by your side, no friends to lead you out of a dark place, no laughter or joy, no love. It was terrible.

She re joined the world when she realised Bruce Wayne had caught her staring, and removing the dazed look from her face she smiled brightly at him from across the garden, waving at him. A small smile crept up onto his face, and she saw him lightly shake his head before nodding at her. Her cheeks grew a light pink as she realised he had shaken his head, knowing full well that she had been day dreaming deeply when she should have been doing her job.

"Mr. Fox, would you like a new glass?" she quietly spoke to Lucius as he kept a keen interest in the conversation that was going on, which she knew he had no interest in, Imogen largely admired Mr. Fox, his work ethic, soft natured generosity and extreme politeness was something she thought of as very rare.

He smiled politely at her, shaking his head, while whispering a 'no thank you', she nodded her head and continued her roaming of the guests that were here. Mr. Fox briefly stared at her for a moment, letting a small smile etch its way onto his face as he observed her childlike grin; he honestly thought she was the loveliest girl he had ever met, reminding him of when his eldest daughter was once the age of seven, adorning a smile much like Imogen's.

"You know Imogen; you're not really needed here with me anymore, so if you would like to go enjoy yourself, please do."

A large open mouthed grin spread across Imogen's face, and if she had not been in a place full of upper class overly formal people she would of hugged Lucius out of gratitude, thanking him excitedly she scurried away, practically skipping down the stone steps to walk along the path that lead deeper into the Wayne Manor garden, while Lucius laughed good naturedly at her retreating back.

* * *

><p>Since the demise of Rachel Dawes three years ago Bruce hadn't stopped to allow himself to think about other women, of course there were the sea of models he would have on his arm to uphold the image of his play boy behaviour, but when it came to harbouring any feelings or attraction to a woman hadn't occurred yet.<p>

He failed to understand just exactly what it was he felt for the young Imogen Hartley, if he felt anything at all that was, she intrigued him to say the least and constantly put him at a loss for words. He had never met someone so strangely optimistic, so innocent in mind and genuinely happy with everything in life. He knew she was beautiful, no doubt about it, but her beauty was constantly over shadowed by her behaviour, which answered Bruce's question on why she had so very little friends, if any.

It made him feel uneasy, usually being a good judge of character or predicting people's actions, but that was not the case with her since she was completely unpredictable, never knowing what was going on inside of her head or what she would do next. Maybe it was because her positive energy was something Bruce had never experienced before; something he was reluctant to admit was that he enjoyed it, wanted to understand it, and maybe that was why on the warm afternoon in his own garden at the charity event, that he had decided to follow her down the path.

She stood outside of the maze; as usual a dazed look adorned her face, most likely letting her imagination wander on what could possibly be inside the maze. Her empty glass of wine had been abandoned beside her on the gravel floor, and the coral coloured wedges she once wore where off her feet, being held in one of her hands, returning her back to her height of five foot six. Imogen saw out of the corner of her eye that Bruce Wayne was approaching her, and she fully turned around to greet him with a smile.

"Following me Mr. Wayne?" He raised an eyebrow amusedly at her question, bet shaking his head her.

"I think I'm inclined to wander my own garden Miss Hartley."

"I see, holding up the image of being a billionaire playboy becoming tiresome?"

"What makes you think it's an image?" He asked her, deepening his curiosity of what could possibly be going on inside of her mind.

"Observations." She shrugged nonchalantly, her childlike smile prominent as ever on her soft features.

"Well, I can assure you Miss. Hartley that is it no image."

"Just call me Imogen, and if you say so." She was provoking him, without him even realising it, which is something he should have seen clearly, still he answered with slight irritation.

"Please Miss Hartley, I ask you not to behave as if you know who I am."

Completely oblivious to the irritation in his voice Imogen continued as if it were a general conversation, her blue eyes shining as she spoke.

"I don't know you, I was simply saying based on observations I don't think you're as ghastly as you like the media to make you out to be. For instance you parade around events as if you were a strong lover of alcohol, when in fact you have been holding that exact same glass of champagne all afternoon, and although it may seem as if you constantly take a sip from the glass, the amount of champagne that has been in it has not lessened one bit."

Her smile spread a little wider as she took in his bewildered expression, "also you tend to grimace slightly every time you taste it."

Bruce coughed slightly, and broke eye contact with her to look at the glass in his hand awkwardly, she was right of course, but he never imagined that she of all people would look that deep into things, especially when she always seemed so largely detached from reality, well he did say she was unpredictable. He let out a laugh then, looking back up at her to see that she still held her smile, his laugh came out some what relieved, that at least someone other than Alfred of Lucius would finally allow him to behave more like himself, it wasn't as if he could try and behave the way he did in front of others with Imogen anyway.

"Remarkable."

"Hardly, I just use my brain." She giggled at her own remark, letting out a small sigh and shrugging once more.

"We all have our reasons for what we do Mr. Wayne."

"And you're not the least bit curious?" She turned from him, her gaze once again back to the entrance of the maze, "Ask no questions, and you'll hear no lies Mr. Wayne."

He was pleased with the fact that she wouldn't delve deeper into his business, and thinking about her statement he trusted her not to surprise him and go sneaking around to find why he would pretend to be something he wasn't, making him relieved again to know that he would have at least one more friend to be him self around. He watched her as she walked bare foot into the maze, only slowing down slightly to turn to look at him.

"Coming Mr. Wayne?"

Abandoning his own glass beside Imogen's, he walked briskly to step in beside her into the maze, he couldn't have her getting lost on her own after all, that wouldn't be very gentleman like of him.

* * *

><p>They wandered the maze for quite some time, idly chatting and at times laughing at Imogen's random statements, at some points there would be a lull in the conversation, and Imogen would fill with the voice of her soft singing, which Bruce had found himself enjoying. To everyone else it would only look as if there was one entrance and exit to the maze, which is where Imogen and Bruce had entered, but on the opposite side, there was in fact another, once that only Bruce and Alfred were aware of, it was where the well was situated and where the Batman lair could be located.<p>

That was why it was almost impossible to find it, seeing as Alfred had designed the set up of the maze, only him and Bruce knowing their way around. Bruce had no fear of Imogen ever finding it, but one could never be too careful, especially with someone as unpredictable as her.

She never let her eyes stick to one place, constantly darting around at their surroundings excitedly, and all there was to see was a sea of green bushes, but something like that had never stopped Imogen from enjoying herself. She also had an insane amount of energy, darting around every corner to see if she had found the centre, it was lucky for Bruce that he was physically fit, for if not he would have lost her a while ago.

"Tell me, what is your fascination with this maze?"

Imogen slowed her pace, noticing Bruce behind her had began to slow down himself, feeling slightly guilty for making him wander around for so long.

"I don't know Mr. Wayne, but ever since reading Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire the thought of mazes has always felt so magical."

"I'm afraid that I've ever read that book, and please if you insist on me calling you by your first name, then call me Bruce."

She nodded absentmindedly, twirling in her dress and stopping to walk backwards while facing Bruce.

"Well if you haven't read the book _Bruce_, have you at least watched the film?"

He shook his head, a smile gracing his lips as he heard her gasp loudly, a look of horror on her face with her hand covering her mouth.

"In my years of travelling Imogen I didn't have much time to read or watch films."

She flicked him on the shoulder, giving him an accusatory look, "that's no excuse Bruce, you've been in Gotham long enough to catch up!"

She went on then to talk about all the books she would give him to read, and all the films she insisted him on watching, such as 'The Secret Garden' or Disney films that she had no shame in still enjoying, and Bruce listened intently, genuinely interested in what she had to say, Imogen definitely noticed that in her head, since not many people gave her the time of day, and for that she was thankful to Bruce Wayne.

Upon reaching the centre Imogen squealed happily, dropping her shoes on the floor to circle the fountain that was centred in the maze, she sat on the edge, letting one of her hands softly graze the pool of water inside. She looked to Bruce beside her, who stood with his hands in his pockets as he watched her, "you're home is beautiful Bruce."

"Thank my Butler for that, he truly has divine taste."

They lapsed into another silence, and Imogen's gaze returned once again to the water in the fountain, her hand still playing with the water gently, she hummed softly to the distant sound of music that was being played back at the event. A very talented swing band had been hired to play at the venue, which was most likely paid for by Bruce, and had many people up and dancing to their music.

"You can here the band all the way out here." Bruce commented absentmindedly, voicing Imogen's thoughts, turning to him once more she smiled.

"It's the wind; the breeze is pushing the sound in this direction." Bruce let out a small laugh, looking at her as if she were a clueless child.

"There is no wind Imogen."

"Exactly."

"What?"

Sometimes Imogen wondered if she even understood what she said, or if she came out with things simply to entertain others or to lighten the mood. It seemed neither ever worked, as everyone save for her friends rolled their eyes at her and completely ignored her, not that it hurt her feelings, it mostly made her feel awkward. To change the subject Imogen stood, putting her forefinger above her lip in a poor imitation of a gentleman; she extended her other hand towards Bruce, putting on her best posh male voice.

"Care for a dance Madame?"

Being taken by surprise then Bruce let out a loud laugh, completely baffled on where things like this could come from an adults mind, he doubted even children were as overly excited as she was, never the less he took her hand, placing the other one at her waist, and began to dance some what clumsily, due to Imogen's inexperience with it.

"Hmmm, I thought the gentlemen were meant to lead when dancing?" Imogen attempted to stay serious when speaking with a deep voice, but looking at Bruce made it hard to keep the smile to her self.

"Well I would have sir, if you didn't have two left feet." Imogen's jaw dropped melodramatically, and she pouted childishly at him, proceeding to stick her tongue out at him, causing another eruption of laughter from Bruce.

It was relatively easy to relax when being alone with her, the constant pressure of needing to be there for Gotham, or to uphold an image to the rest of the world seemed to fade away as he let himself enjoy Imogen's company. Her habit of not taking many things seriously was one he admired, one he envied, and one he would thoroughly enjoy keeping when around her, in a way he guessed she was his release from all the stress he would lock inside himself. So naturally, when an urgent phone call from Alfred interrupted their time in the maze, he was slightly reluctant to suggest that they get a move on back to the event.

They walked side by side once again, the only sound being made was of Imogen's soft singing once again, apparently unaware of the fact that the charity event had actually finished not too long ago, already thinking ahead for her Bruce assumed that she probably had arrived her with Lucius, so had arranged with Alfred to arrange a car home for her.

"I would very much like to see you again Imogen." Being unobservant as ever to social etiquette, Imogen looked at him with amusement before answering.

"You already do, every day at work silly."

"I'm afraid you misunderstood, what I meant is that I would like to take you to dinner."

Imogen looked at him from the corner of her eye suspiciously, before a look of realization dawned on her face and she looked at him once more with amusement.

"Was that a trick question?"

"No, pretty straight forward actually."

"If it were straight forward I wouldn't have asked in the first place, that's something I never understood about people, stating a fact as if it were obvious when really … it's not."

He expected her to speak in riddles with him about the possibilities of a date, she didn't strike him out to be one for dating in the first place, but one thing he could possibly say he knew about her behaviour was that she was dancing around the subject in nervousness.

"My apologies Imogen, so should I take that as a yes or a no?"

She let her eyes wander around as they walked, looking as if she was mulling over his question, when in reality she was trying to find a way around his question without being rude.

"Well I have many books to be reading over the weekend, and I'm always so tired from work during the week that I never actually go out … you know I sometimes even work on the weekends? Not that I'm moaning about it, but it does consume my time which doesn't allow me to read my book as much."

If she knew Bruce then she would have known that he wasn't easily put out, and that he would constantly return with more determination the next time he saw her to convince her in joining him for dinner. The woman intrigued him to no end, so much that he wanted to know more about her, to sit with her at a dinner table and ask her questions, to once again feel her happy, positive demeanour around him that made him feel relaxed.

His quirky reply however was cut short when they had reached the exit of the maze, and were interrupted by Alfred, who had already apparently been waiting for quite sometime.

"Master Wayne, a car is waiting for Miss Hartley just as you requested outside of Wayne Manor."

"Oh my you're British! Alright governor?" Her accent had changed from American to cockney British as she attempted to imitate yet another person, the line she had delivered came with a wink of her eye and a gun pose with it, causing an awkward silence between the three as she was stared at by both men.

Standing up to her full height with a tint of pink on her pale cheeks, Imogen looked the floor shamefully, muttering a quite apology and how she knew no one from England actually spoke that line, but merely thought it was an opportune moment to try it out.

A polite smile crossed Alfred's face, before nodding understandingly towards her, "It's quite alright Miss, although I must say that's the first time that's happened."

The atmosphere had lightened after Alfred had spoken, and once again explained to Bruce and Imogen that a car was waiting for her outside, a few more words were exchanged between and Imogen, while she constantly thanked them both for organising her transport. Placing her shoes on her feet once more she smiled brightly at them both.

Giving them both a salute she began walking away, stopping only once to say one last goodbye to Bruce, "See ya later Alligator!" leaving them both to stare at her retreating figure up the path of the garden.

Alfred coughed awkwardly, before a slightly smug smile adorned his face, ignoring it Bruce suggested what he couldn't tell Alfred over the phone, "The Batcave then?"

"Yes sir, a few leads on the Narrows Murder last night."

Alfred fixed the black bow on his collar, before moving to walk ahead of Bruce and lead the way through the maze to the lair, "Charming girl Master Wayne." To prevent himself from laughing he refused to turn and look at the playful glare Bruce had directed to him.

* * *

><p><strong>Well this is a long update lol, I quite enjoyed writing this one! Pretty funny, and now I have a good solid plot to this in my head! Hope you enjoy this chapter! And thank you so much to all the lovely feedback and reviews I got from you all! I truly didn't expect it to be that popular! But thank you everyone for liking my Original Character! :D ENJOY CHAPTER 3<strong>


	4. Punk Rocker

**Chapter 4: Punk Rocker**

_Oh I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker_

_With Flowers In My Hair,_

_In 77 and 69 Revolution Was In The Air,_

_I Was Born Too Late,_

_In A World That Doesn't Care,_

_Oh I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker _

_With Flowers In My Hair._

_(Sandi Thom - Punk Rocker)_

* * *

><p>"Why didn't you say yes idiot?" Imogen stared at her friendly clueless, it wasn't a hard question, yet she herself didn't fully know how to answer it.<p>

Looking at the milkshake in front of her, becoming fascinated with the red and white stripped straw she shrugged her shoulders. Thinking back to the week before when the charity ball had been hosted, when she had found herself enjoying Bruce Wayne's company, he had freaked her out quite a bit when mentioning the possibilities of a date, and it made her even more nervous to see that he wasn't in the least bit phased at her rejecting him, which made her slightly paranoid in thinking he would ask again.

"Well … because he's Bruce Wayne; one of the richest men in the world, and extremely generous with his money, while I'm Imogen Hartley; some nobody assistant who majored in Business and Accounting because I had no idea what to do with my life."

Her best friend stared at her sceptically, knowing full well that that was half the truth, in fact she knew it was straight out bull shit, Carla let out a scoff at her best friend, but faltered slightly as she saw Imogen wince like a child. Sighing, and running a hand through her red curls she took a sip of her own milkshake. They were sitting in an old fifty styled diner; one that had been open for god knows how many years. It had been Imogen who had introduced Carla to it in their college years at Gotham University, claiming that Imogen's father had taken her to this place every week as a child.

It was Imogen's 'most favourite place in the world' and Carla would often find her here, sitting alone when upset or in need of thinking, luckily for Imogen it was open until the very late hours of the night. It wasn't a relatively busy place, consisting of the odd customers here or there, and was designed the way a diner of its era would, with the black and white squared tiled floor, with a joke box and red leathered seats. Even the waitresses wore pink dress and skates for uniform, Carla would often look at the ensemble in disgust, and would speak on how they needed to stop with the whole 'trying to bring back the 'Grease' look in restaurants and get on with life, where as Imogen adored it, even owning her own pair of roller skates.

This very diner also happened to be the same place she worked during her years of college, which was perfect for her as it wasn't far, paid decently, and she sincerely enjoyed it.

Carla waited patiently for Imogen to being talking again, and shrugged off her brown leather jacket, knowing full well that they would be here for a while, so she decided to get comfortable in her seat. Imogen sighed, briefly looking up at Carla, before returning back to look at the straw in her cup that she had been circling with her fingers, she then sat up straight and tightened her pony tail, before running her fingers through her bangs.

They both leaned in slightly, resting their forearms on the table, "What's the point Carla? He'll lose his interest on the whole 'she's weird and random' thing, and I'll be on my own again."

Carla shook her head in annoyance at Imogen, it was the one thing that annoyed her about Imogen; she truly had no idea just how much joy she brought to people, well the people who loved her anyway, she just didn't give herself enough credit.

"Yes Carla, he'll find some woman who can actually look the part at all those silly formal parties, and can understand rich people's jokes, and who would be able to have a real intelligent conversation with him."

Carla rested both her hands on the table, and looked Imogen directly in the eye, before taking a deep breathe for what she was going to say, almost as if she were about to scold a child.

"I will only say this once Imogen; because I'm tired of doing so … You need to stop basing possible boyfriends on a previous relationship that happened in college bec-"

"Oh wait, wait this is the best part!" Imogen interrupted her to motion to the TV in the corner near the counter, which was playing Shark Tale, the usually played animations since children mostly occupied the diner.

"Sebastian; the whale washing dolphin!" Imogen sang along happily with a smile on her face, genuinely seeming distracted by what was being shown on the television like a child would.

"Stop doing that! You forget I know you better than anyone else, take something seriously for once Imogen, I want you to be happy!"

"Look! Look at Oscar's face!"

Imogen giggled as she watched the animation that was played, it was another of her favourites that she enjoyed watching, with a defeated look Carla craned her head slightly to watch with her, knowing full well the conversation would go no further. A comfortable silence settled between the two, as Carla stared boredly at the television screen, having no interest in the animation before her, while Imogen watched it with a sparkle in her eye, smiling to herself and completely engrossed in the film.

* * *

><p>Another sunny day in Gotham and another lovely day at work. That was thought without any sarcasm in Imogen's head, and smiling to herself for no reason needed, she lightly skipped into the Wayne Enterprise building that early Wednesday morning. With Lucuis's cup of coffee in her hand, as per usual, she hummed softly to a song in her head, one that she remembered her mother once sang to her as a child.<p>

She always though it was a beautiful song, and that her mother sang it beautifully herself, that was until she realized her mother hadn't actually made that song on her own, and had in fact took it from 'The Prince of Egypt', but she still enjoyed listening to it.

Her mind strayed from her original point then, going off to wonder what it was like to live in the that time of ancient Egypt, what their clothing and religion was like, she had always admired the grand buildings that the Egyptians had spent so long making. Imaging herself to look like those of Egyptian royalty, with heavy black eye liner and large golden jewellery, she was zoned out to the rest of the world, not noticing Stanley creeping up behind her to discuss the gossip that he had heard about from the Charity event.

"Boo." Imogen ever so slightly jumped, snapping out of her daydream to stare at Stanley beside her, a ghost of smile appeared on her face and she lightly smacked him on the arm.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people Stanley, you really scared me."

"Well if you weren't so caught up in Wonderland Alice, you would have heard me call your name."

She blushed slightly, knowing all too well how distracted she could get when daydreaming, but still refused to agree with Stanley, who was currently giving her a pointed look.

"Or maybe I was ignoring you for ditching me on Saturday!"

Of course Imogen could never be angry over something as little as that, she was simply teasing Stanley. Since befriending him she had always taken him as her plus one to the Wayne Events that she was often invited too, he would run around enjoying himself until she would be dismissed from Mr. Fox, and together they would enjoy the rest of their night, and would finish with getting some take out and a movie. However on the day of the Charity event, Stanley had called to cancel on her, explaining that he had forgotten he scheduled a date with one of the male nurses from the Dent Memorial Hospital.

Not one to complain Imogen went on to say that it was completely fine, but that he had to make it up to her on an evening in the next weekend, which Stanley was more than happy to oblige to. He looked down at her through his glasses, smiling slightly and spoke to her slowly to emphasize his point.

"Are you really going to try and pretend to be upset about that?"

Imogen giggled, shaking her head bashfully, and looped arms with Stanley to continue their walk, sometimes when Stanley felt energetic he would take the stairs with her, other times he would tell her to dream on and part ways with her to head to the lift. Today it seemed he felt energized enough to join her with the stairs, pushing the door open and holding it as Imogen walked in, he began to quiz her on what he wanted to know since Saturday night.

"A little birdie told me you spent the entire afternoon with the handsome beauty Bruce Wayne."

Imogen shrugged indifferently, not at all fazed by the insinuation in Stanley's tone, straightening out her pleated black skirt as she climbed the steps she smiled at him.

"He took me around the maze in his garden, I felt like Alice In Wonderland."

She clapped her hands excitedly, completely unaware of the fact that Stanley's eye roll, he swung an arm around her shoulder to pull her closer towards him.

"That was code for tell me all the juicy gossip, not the irrelevant things that happened."

She shrugged, looking at him innocently like a child, feeling as if there was nothing important to tell, "other than that he just told me I should join him for dinner, and I said I was busy."

Stanley stopped in his tracks then, and his mouth dropped dramatically, eyes bulging out of his sockets and pulled Imogen to a halt, staring into her clueless blue orbs. She didn't think it was an important fact, she assumed every woman in Gotham could say the exact same line that she delivered, minus the rejection of the offer; she doubted many women did that.

"Busy? _Busy?_ Honestly, I just wonder what on earth goes on in your head Imogen! Bruce Wayne! And you say no."

A hand ran down his face, and he let out a groan towards Imogen, attempting not to laugh at her confused yet slightly ashamed face, her cheeks reddening. It wasn't as if she didn't find Bruce Wayne attractive, she just didn't know him, or he with her, and if she even did consider it she wasn't too keen on looking like another notch on his bed post all over the Gotham Times.

"I don't know him Stan! And can you honestly see me dating someone whose gallivanting around Gotham's clubs in front of photographers?"

Stanley's eyebrow rose, giving her pointed looks as the continued their walk up the stairs, "Weren't you the one to say that he didn't actually seem like what you saw in the papers?"

"Yeah but I don't want to date a guy who is two different people, especially with one of his personalities being that outrageous."

Stanley chose to change the subject, giving up on getting the actual reasons out of her, he understood that when it came to getting close to people that it was near impossible, let alone a potential love interest, she was friendly beyond belief, but when it came to actually trusting someone it was like trying to hug a brick wall. In the three years he had spent being friends with Imogen, it took half of that time to actually make a break through with her trusting him, and if Bruce Wayne was intending to try and do the same thing, well then he had a very long time to try.

* * *

><p>"Boo."<p>

Imogen let out a little yelp, gasping softly in her desk seat to curiously look at who decided to startle her later in the day. Bruce leant over her shoulder, giving her charmingly wonderful smile, yet all it seemed to do was make Imogen feel uncomfortable.

"That's the second time someone done that to me today." Imogen's cheeks turned slightly pink, returning Bruce's smile with her own friendly one.

"Busy day?" She shrugged, leaning back in her seat to face Bruce as he sat on her desk in front of her, her fingers combing through her hair slightly, draping out over one shoulder and curling the ends around her fingers like a child.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, although it should be getting a little more busy after Baldy signs that deal the company?"

A moment of silence passed between the two, and then a wide grin spread across Bruce's face seeming to hold back laughter, "… Baldy?"

Imogen nodded, using her hands to motion above her head as she spoke, "Yeah, you know owns that big company in Metropolis, shaved head and kind of creep? Baldy!"

"You mean Lex Luthur?"

"You say potato I say tomato!"

They both broke out into a chorus of laughter, Bruce's deep and loud, while Imogen's was soft and considered to be cute by Bruce as he watched her, and when she caught him staring he held no shame in continuing, only making Imogen feel awkward and avert her gaze. She cleared her throat, plastering on a bright smile once more before looking back to him.

"So, going anywhere particular for lunch?"

Imogen shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "Wherever the wind takes me."

He nodded amusedly at her answer, wondering why it was so easy for her to be care free, not worrying over what people called life, and in that sense he could admit to being envious, since she seemed to never suffer at all in her years of living, how she could have it easy compared to many unfortunate others.

"Would that wind happen to push you in my direction?"

An embarrassed laugh escaped Imogen's mouth, her blue eyes looking frantically to her desk while maintaining her friendly smile, grabbing a few folders off of her desk to wave it in front of Bruce.

"Maybe another time, unfortunately the wind has brought some work that I have to do over lunch."

"Okay, I can take a hint."

Imogen nodded, giving him an apologetic smile before standing, placing her handbag on one shoulder while balancing her selected folders on another, biding Bruce a good bye she speed walked her way to the stairwell, her pencil skirt making in difficult for her to even speed walk. Holding her breath out of nervousness she kept herself from looking back to Bruce, who kept himself silent through her messy exit, smiling to himself at her behaviour while he watched her leave.

* * *

><p><strong>Long over due, sorry! But yes erm it's sort of a filler chapter, so hopefully the next one is better! Anyway enjoy! :D <strong>


End file.
